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Eurydice

EACEA National Policies Platform:Eurydice
Management Staff Working in Adult Education and Training

United Kingdom - England

Last update: 16 December 2020
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This article deals with staff, other than teaching staff, working in further education (FE) colleges. (Although FE colleges are at the centre of adult education and training provision in England, they are not the only providers; programmes are delivered across a diverse range of providers, as described in the article on 'Main Providers' in the chapter on 'Adult Education and Training'.)

The focus of the article is FE college principals and senior leaders. Like others working in further education (FE), they are not civil servants and do not have guaranteed employment at any stage of their professional life, but instead must apply for specific posts.

Management and staffing structures vary in individual FE colleges, as do job categories and titles.

Managers in FE colleges 

There is national negotiating machinery for pay and conditions for staff in the FE sector.

The Association of Colleges (AoC) acts on behalf of employers in negotiations with the University and College Union (UCU) and other recognised trade unions in the National Joint Forum. Collective agreements on a range of employment issues have been negotiated by the Forum and are recommended for adoption by FE colleges.

The agreements include guidelines for the development and use of career families and career pathways in FE, and example role outlines for teaching and training roles; advanced teaching and training roles; and leadership and management roles. The role outlines are not intended to be prescriptive and may be modified to suit local circumstances. They give a guide to occupational competencies which may be expected within individual career families.

The role outline for leadership and management includes the following major areas of activity:

  • develop strategic practice (e.g. develop and implement the strategic development plan for the college)
  • develop and sustain learning and the learning environment (e.g. develop an operational plan to develop and sustain services for learners)
  • lead teams and individuals
  • manage finance and resources
  • monitor, evaluate and improve own performance and the quality of college leadership and management
  • general activities (e.g. attract and retain learners and take a leading role in marketing, publicity events and networks).

FE colleges are able to set their own salary scales and many do so. However, the UCU also publishes recommended salary scales for different types of staff, including leadership and management grades.

There are no minimum qualifications which managers are required to hold in order to be appointed. That said, the section on ‘College principals’ below provides examples of training programmes available for managers.

College principals 

All further education (FE) colleges have an Instrument and Articles of Government, setting out how the college is governed. Management and staffing structures vary, but every college’s Instrument and Articles of Government must include a requirement for the governing body to appoint a chief executive, who is normally the principal of the college. In many colleges, a small number of senior members of staff are appointed by, and are directly accountable to, the governing body*. Further information is provided on the Association of Colleges’ website.

*The term ‘governing body’ has been used throughout this section to cover ‘boards of governors’, ‘corporations’ and ‘trusts’.

The responsibilities of the role of principal are not specified in law, although the Financial Memorandum, the agreement made between the individual college and the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), sets the expectation that he/she will be the accounting officer for the college. This means that he/she takes personal responsibility for assuring the governing body that there is compliance with the Financial Memorandum and all other terms and conditions of funding. However, responsibility for financial management and advising on financial matters is generally delegated through the principal to a senior member of staff such as a director of finance (or equivalent).

Most colleges’ Articles of Government also define the role of principal as being responsible for making proposals in relation to the college’s educational character and mission; organising, directing and managing the college; and dealing with staff matters within an overall framework set by the governing body.

As described on page 26 of the Association of Colleges’ (AoC’s) Code of Good Governance for English Colleges, the principal’s responsibilities also include:

  • ensuring that decisions made by the governing body are implemented through the college’s management structure, and advising the governing body
  • giving prompt and coherent management reports to governors on the college’s activities and prospects, including the emergence of major new risks and opportunities
  • facilitating appropriate opportunities for governors to see first-hand the work of the college and meet with students and staff.

The role of principals has changed since FE colleges were incorporated in 1993, following the Further and Higher Education Act (FHEA) 1992. The outward facing, public role of the principal has become increasingly prominent as a result of institutional autonomy created through incorporation, combined with the development of a market-led environment. For further information on how the roles of principals and other leaders in FE have evolved in recent years, see chapter 5, Leadership (pages 49-62) of the Department for Education (DfE) research report Teaching, Leadership and Governance in Further Education, published in February 2018.

It is the governing body that determines the pay and conditions of service of the principal (and other senior post holders). Governing bodies may establish a remuneration committee to provide advice, and decisions are normally informed by benchmarking data and a recent performance appraisal of the principal. In January 2019, the AoC’s Code of Good Governance for English Colleges was updated to introduce a voluntary Colleges Senior Postholder Renumeration Code, intended to promote good practice.

There are no specific qualification requirements for college principals. When appointing a principal, the governing bodies of FE colleges are free to accept the applicant they believe is best qualified for the role.

There are a wide range of professional development opportunities for college principals to develop their skills for the role. The Leadership Hub provides access to training opportunities for leadership, management and governance development in FE. The leadership development opportunities accessible here are funded by the DfE and endorsed by the FE Commissioner. The Leadership Hub was set up by the Education and Training Foundation (ETF), which itself was established in 2013 as the national support body for the FE sector.

In addition, the Association of Colleges offers a Senior Leadership Management Development Programme, which aims to help develop the skills and knowledge required by senior managers in FE.

Prior to November 2010, all newly appointed principals had to hold, or be working towards, the Principals’ Qualification, in accordance with regulations made under the Education Act 2002. This ceased to be mandatory under The Further Education (Principals’ Qualifications) (England) (Revocation) Regulations 2010.

 

Article reviewed December 2020.